Coco Coir Fiber Media as a Growth Performance of Chilli Pepper Seedlings (Capsicum annuum)

Abstract

Many growth media have been introduced into agriculture such as saw dust, coco peat, tissue culture etc. in order to improve crop production and crop breeding. Coco coir is not an exception and is not new to agriculture but has not yet been fully explored in this tropical part of the world. Consequently, the aim of this study was to compare the growth performance of two varieties of chili pepper seedlings in three different used media which were coir, soil and coir + soil (1:1). The objective of the study was to sow the seeds under nursery conditions to determine how they would support pepper growth. Seedlings height, leaf length and leaf width were measured and compared based on the performance in different growth media. The study was carried out at the Crop Production and Horticulture Nursery of Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State. Data were collected from 2 WAS to 6 WAS (transplanting stage). The growth media analysis was done in the Soil Science and Land Management Laboratory of Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State and the data were analyzed using the Statistical Analysis System (SAS). The means were separated using the Least Significant Difference (LSD) at 5% level of significance. The results showed significant (p<0.05) differences in the seedlings growth with soil media being the best growth media, followed by the combination of coir and soil and the last was coir. Based on the findings, it is recommended that further research work should be carried out on coir as a growth media and possible nutrient supplements either organic or inorganic should be applied. Also, other vegetables should be grown in coir to check their growth performances.